It is interesting that Kobe was so close to only having 2 rings for his entire career

[coastalmarker99]

2000 WCF game 7 Portland choke a 15 point lead in the fourth quarter they should have won that game.


2002 Wcf Game 6 was rigged and in game 7 of that series if the King made their free throws they win that game 7 as 16 from 30 from the foul line in a game that big is utterly disgraceful and still the game went to overtime.




2010 game 7 If the Celtics grab a couple of rebounds that they should have gotten then they win that very close game.

[SouBeachTalents]

This applies to so many players. Bird, Shaq & LeBron, 3 of the greatest ever, could've very easily only had 1 title apiece. What I find funny is the vast majority of the top 10 came so much closer to losing out on their titles than they did to winning additional ones. The only ones that break that trend are Wilt, who I'm sure you're very familiar with his close calls, and Duncan.

Sure Duncan had his lucky breaks like the Horry 3 against Detroit and his foul two years later against Nash. Besides that though, I feel like even with 5 titles he left several others on the table. The Fisher shot in '04 completely swung that series, don't know for sure if they beat Minny & Detroit but that's a potential title right there. The Game 7 loss to Dallas in '06, Manu's boneheaded foul on Dirk helped send the game into OT. If they win that series, I definitely would've picked them to beat the Amare less Suns, and they would've been the favorites to beat Miami in the Finals. Then of course 2013, which I don't think needs any explanation. Even 2015, the Thunder are out, the Warriors are fairly inexperienced, they knock off the Clippers there, who the hell knows who those playoffs plays out for them. That's not even mentioning them blowing a 2-0 lead with HCA in the 2012 WCF.

[coastalmarker99]

This applies to so many players. Bird, Shaq & LeBron, 3 of the greatest ever, could've very easily only had 1 title apiece. What I find funny is the vast majority of the top 10 came so much closer to losing out on their titles than they did to winning additional ones. The only ones that break that trend are Wilt, who I'm sure you're very familiar with his close calls, and Duncan.

Sure Duncan had his lucky breaks like the Horry 3 against Detroit and his foul two years later against Nash. Besides that though, I feel like even with 5 titles he left several others on the table. The Fisher shot in '04 completely swung that series, don't know for sure if they beat Minny & Detroit but that's a potential title right there. The Game 7 loss to Dallas in '06, Manu's boneheaded foul on Dirk helped send the game into OT. If they win that series, I definitely would've picked them to beat the Amare less Suns, and they would've been the favorites to beat Miami in the Finals. Then of course 2013, which I don't think needs any explanation. Even 2015, the Thunder are out, the Warriors are fairly inexperienced, they knock off the Clippers there, who knows how the hell that postseason plays out for them. That's not even to mention them blowing a 2-0 lead with HCA in the 2012 WCF



It's scary to think that Duncan seriously could have won five straight rings from 2003 to 2007 which would have made him top 3 of all time or the Goat nowadays as he would now have 7 rings and 5 finals MVPs plus a 5 peat to boot along with two regular-season MVPs.






Larry Bird escapes a lot of justified criticism for his playoff performances outside of 1984 to 1987 in which he was great during those years still those 1984 and 1981 titles he got against both the Sixers and Lakers were some of the biggest chokes you will ever see by teams.




The 1984 Lakers honestly should have swept the Celtics that year in the finals as they utterly choked both game 2 and 4 and gave them to the Celtics.


And the 1981 Sixers with doctor J should have won that Ecf series in 5 or 6 games instead they blow a 3 1 series lead and the rest is history.

[Jay-B]

No offense but what a dumb thread, can’t you say this for pretty much everything in life? Lol shoulda coulda woulda

[tpols]

You can't count 2000 because Kobe and the crew brought them back... it's expected Kobe is going to be clutcher than Pippen, even if that means surmounting a big 4th quarter deficit.

https://www.nba.com/lakers/sites/lakers/files/ezgif-2-01628e4ad5.gif

Baby Kobe shook Pippen out of his shoes and sealed the deal.

2002? yea that's a rig. Kings should have a title banner.

2010 was a hard fought battle Lakers won off by barely. There was no true rig. Garnett wasn't suspended in an elimination game.

[Axe]

You can't count 2000 because Kobe and the crew brought them back... it's expected Kobe is going to be clutcher than Pippen, even if that means surmounting a big 4th quarter deficit.

https://www.nba.com/lakers/sites/lakers/files/ezgif-2-01628e4ad5.gif

Baby Kobe shook Pippen out of his shoes and sealed the deal.

2002? yea that's a rig. Kings should have a title banner.

2010 was a hard fought battle Lakers won off by barely. There was no true rig. Garnett wasn't suspended in an elimination game.
You berate pippen yet he has six rings over kobe's five. :oldlol: